1-1     By:  Ellis                                            S.B. No. 1716
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 6, 1999,
 1-4     reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0;
 1-5     April 6, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to authorizing a recreational and wellness facility fee at
 1-9     the University of Houston.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter E, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
1-12     amended by adding Section 54.528 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 54.528.  RECREATIONAL FACILITY FEE;  THE UNIVERSITY OF
1-14     HOUSTON.  (a)  The board of regents of the University of Houston
1-15     System may charge each student enrolled at the University of
1-16     Houston a recreational and wellness facility fee to finance,
1-17     construct, operate, maintain, or improve student wellness and
1-18     recreational facilities at the university.  The initial amount of
1-19     the fee may not exceed $75 for each semester of the regular term or
1-20     for each summer session.  The board may prorate the amount of the
1-21     fee for a summer session.
1-22           (b)  The fee may not be imposed unless the fee is approved by
1-23     a majority vote of those students participating in a general
1-24     student election called for that purpose.  The fee may not be
1-25     imposed in a semester or session before the first semester or
1-26     session in which a wellness and recreational facility is available
1-27     for use.
1-28           (c)  The board may increase the amount of the fee but may not
1-29     increase the amount by more than 10 percent from one academic year
1-30     to the next unless the increase is approved by a majority vote of
1-31     those students voting in a general student election called for that
1-32     purpose.
1-33           (d)  The board shall deposit the revenue from the  fee in an
1-34     account known as the recreational and wellness facility account.
1-35           (e)  The board may pledge revenue from the fee to pay
1-36     obligations issued pursuant to the revenue financing system of the
1-37     University of Houston System.
1-38           (f)  A fee imposed under this section may not be considered
1-39     in determining the maximum amount of student services fees that may
1-40     be charged under Section 54.503.
1-41           (g)  The board may permit a person who is not enrolled at the
1-42     University of Houston to use a facility financed with revenue from
1-43     a fee imposed under this section if:
1-44                 (1)  the person's use of the facility will not
1-45     materially interfere with student demand or use;
1-46                 (2)  the person is charged a fee that is not less than
1-47     the student fee and that is not less than the direct and indirect
1-48     cost to the university of providing for the person's use; and
1-49                 (3)  the person's use will not materially increase the
1-50     potential liability of the university.
1-51           SECTION 2.  This Act applies beginning with the 1999 fall
1-52     semester.
1-53           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-54     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-55     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-56     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-57     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-58     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-59     passage, and it is so enacted.
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